The purpose of this inquiry was to conduct a formative evaluation of a rural Pennsylvania school district's dispositional hiring practices. The review of literature includes disposition evaluation methods and summarizes the controversial nature of evaluating dispositions. Interviews of administrators who ask dispositional questions, and newly…

Background and Purpose: Grand Rounds is a teaching methodology that has existed in various forms in medical education for centuries. When a student-run pro bono clinic identified a growing challenge of providing continuity of care for clients and a lack of preparedness in students, they implemented a Grand Rounds model of case presentation within…

Today's superintendents face increasingly non-routine and complex problems that are educational, managerial, and political in nature. This study investigated occupational stressors and job satisfaction of school superintendents in Pennsylvania. This was accomplished through self-report of superintendents and through the perspective of school board…

This article draws on the Language Learning Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence Program 2012 thanks to which Dr. Suresh Canagarajah from Pennsylvania State University lectured at Universidad de La Plata in Argentina in May of that year. He delivered a talk open to language teachers, students and the community in general and also taught a…

The primary focus of this Executive Leadership Portfolio (ELP) is to investigate whether teachers who actively participate in professional development designed to model best practices and explore digital technology would incrementally change their instructional moves to include these practices and technologies. The literature presented within this…

At the intersection of college and work is a complex transition that graduates face every day. Lower levels of college to career transition self-efficacy (CTSE) and lower levels of perceived adulthood may cause a more difficult transition. In this mixed-method study we sought to better understand the relationships among perceived adulthood, CTSE,…

Nineteen students whose first language is not English (English Language Learners, ELL) participated in an action research study that focused on the marriage of an art education curriculum and literacy practice. The study introduced students to the consistent use of language in art education as a means to discuss, inform, explain, and demonstrate…

This article reports results from a study of teacher beliefs among a panel of English and language arts teachers at three universities as the pre-service teachers entered methodological coursework and internships. Using a new assessment tool, the Developmental Instruction Assessment Battery (DIAB), along with a discrete choice task and one-on-one…

In Pennsylvania, Act 82 of 2012 introduced the Educator Effectiveness system and its foundational belief that student achievement is the result of teachers' high quality instruction and principals' high quality school leadership. With the heightened expectations of principal and teacher accountability for student achievement, principals positively…

Teacher efficacy has been researched for over 30 years, teacher efficacy refers to the beliefs of teachers in their abilities to have an impact on classroom management. Classroom management skills have been proven to be a plaguing aspect of the teaching and learning process over the past century. This study answers question about classroom…

For over a century, teacher preparation programs (TPPs) have experienced peaks and valleys in preparing preservice teachers to deliver technology and engineering (TE) experiences in elementary classrooms. Calls to integrate engineering concepts into elementary education (Katehi, Pearson, & Feder, 2009; Kimmel, Carpinelli, Curr-Alexander, &…

Providing students and teachers with appropriate support is a pivotal component when it comes to improving student outcomes. Pre-Referral Intervention Teams (PIT) provide structured interventions and assistance for at-risk students. The purpose of this study was to answer the following research questions: (1) What are teachers' perceptions of…

Teacher evaluation systems introduced by states and school systems in the past several years have focused attention on improving the performance of public school teachers, but they have been cost- and time-intensive, placing a significant burden on states' and districts' resources. In Tennessee, for example, trained evaluators conducted nearly…

We examine adolescents' interpretations of instructional interactions to understand the academic and developmental implications of pedagogy for urban youth of color. In doing so, we seek to advance existing knowledge regarding student engagement in two ways--enhancing the ecological validity of such theories and making the links to teacher…

Persistence in online learning experiences has been perceived as chronically lower than in face-to-face learning, but a comprehensive understanding of this phenomenon has proven elusive. As online learning opportunities continue to expand, a better understanding of how learners and faculty perceive persistence is needed to foster this continued…